Jun 8, 2015 | California Marijuana Laws, Proposed MMJ Law Changes
Sen. Mike McGuire authored the medical marijuana industry regulations Senate bill 643. Which passed at a vote of 25 to 12. The measure would create the Office of Medical Marijuana Regulation, which would regulate how cannabis is grown and sold in California, including the licensing of these businesses. Senator McGuire pointed out the shortcomings of the current medical marijuana industry (or lack of formal regulations).
The Office of Medical Marijuana Regulation would be a newly created agency in charge of medical marijuana regulations and oversee the California industry. The bill sets provisions related to the transportation, testing, and distribution of medical marijuana. Cities and local governments would issue licenses to growers and medical marijuana dispensaries.
The bill would also create a Medical Marijuana Regulation Fund where money would be collected to help fund the new agency and oversight of the industry.
May 29, 2015 | California Marijuana Laws, Proposed MMJ Law Changes
Recently, State Senator Mike McGuire has proposed regulating the medical marijuana industry. He has introduced a bill which aims to legalize as well as regulate the said industry. This bill would encompass all processes starting from cultivation to consumption and all processes in between.
On April 20, the California Medical Marijuana Law, SB 643, has been already passed by the Senate’s Business and Professions Committee. It has also received a hearing in the Senate’s Governance and Finance Committee. The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and ensuing state enactment exempted qualified restorative patients and their care giving figures from state criminal authorizations identified with ownership, development and transportation of restricted measures of marijuana. In any case, an absence of statewide regulation has brought about some legal questions about some restorative marijuana cultivation and circulation exercises.
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May 1, 2015 | Proposed MMJ Law Changes
By Tom Angell
At News.marijuana.com
The latest in a series of Congressional bills intended to scale back the federal war on marijuana would make it easier for state-legal cannabis businesses to access banking services.
The Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act of 2015, introduced by 18 Democrats and one Republican, would protect banks from criminal penalties and asset forfeiture proceedings that they currently risk under federal law when doing business with entities in the marijuana industry.
Last year, the Obama administration released (MMJ banking guidance) intended to make it easier for banks to do business with cannabis sellers, but many financial industry leaders remain wary. They say that until federal law actually changes — as opposed to relying on nonbinding memos that could be changed by this or future administrations — they’re going to stay away.
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Apr 29, 2015 | California Marijuana Laws, Proposed MMJ Law Changes
By Patrick Mcgreevy
At the Los Angeles Times
Two bills that would regulate medical marijuana in different ways in California were approved Tuesday by an Assembly panel, although lawmakers said more work needs to be done to address concerns and settle on one scheme.
The Assembly Business and Professions Committee approved AB 34 by Democratic Assemblymen Rob Bonta of Alameda and Reginald Jones-Sawyer of Los Angeles, which would have pot dispensaries regulated by the state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control, while growers would be overseen by the state Department of Food and Agriculture.
That measure was opposed by the League of California Cities and the California Police Chiefs Assn. because it gives the state primary responsibility for regulating and enforcing rules on the California medical marijuana industry. The bill was opposed by Republican members who said they sympathized with the concerns of cities and law enforcement. (more…)
Apr 25, 2015 | California Marijuana Laws, Proposed MMJ Law Changes
By Erika Aguliar
at 89.3 KPCC
Orange County lawyer Randall Longwith has been hired by about 75 eager medical marijuana growers and suppliers across California to find a way to legitimize medical marijuana in O.C. cities where it is currently illegal.
And he thinks he’s found a way to do so: the voter initiative process.
Two years ago, the California State Supreme Court dealt a blow to the medical marijuana community when it upheld a city’s right to ban pot shops, even though state voters approved the 1996 Compassionate Use Act that made medical marijuana use legal in California.
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Mar 31, 2015 | Proposed MMJ Law Changes
Marijuana has been illegal according to federal law since the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, but that may soon change. A bipartisan bill is gaining significant support that will ease the legal issues for people in states, like Colorado and California, which have booming legal marijuana industries. For those operating business related to marijuana in states that have legalized different forms and uses of marijuana, they have still been technically breaking federal law. Lawmakers have long acknowledged the need for change, but it has been a long time coming.
Earlier this month, a bill was finally introduced that would help eliminate the contradictions between federal and state law, making activities related to marijuana (i.e. medical marijuana usage , reseaching of marijuana, and Vetran participation) that are legal according to the state they take place in legal for federal purposes as well. Rescheduling of marihuana will allow this industry to grow more rapidly and further remove the stigmata. Marijuana has become widely accepted in recent years, especially as a medicinal drug. Even recreational use has become more socially acceptable and legal in a growing number of areas. However, federal law continues to treat it as an illegal substance (schedule 1 drug), creating difficulties for business in tax reporting, interstate shipping, and financing.
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